Mesipatamia as a Civilization

8 Charictoristics of a Civilization

Mesipatamia as a Civilization

8 Charictoristics of a Civilization

By: Jack

Cities

There were many cities in mesipatamia. For example they had Akkad, Assur, Babylon, Nimrud, Nineveh, Persepolis, and Uruk. Uruk was the biggest with 80,000 people living there which made the biggest city in the world. It also had the Euphrates river. That gave them the water they needed

Government

The Code of Hammurabi was all the laws. Hammurabi was the king of Babylon. Many laws had to do with one subject. Some big ones were Prologue, legal presgers, house hold rules, etc. Hammurabi's code was written on large stones in the shape of a finger. It was 7 feet tall and two feet wide. There were 282 laws written in 4000 lines.

Religion

The Ancient Sumerians worshipped many different gods and goddesses. They thought the gods influenced much of what happened in their lives. Babylon and Assyrian were very influenced by Sumerians. Each city had their own god. In the middle of the city there was either a ziggeraut or temple that was built to that god. Some ziggerauts were huge.

Division of Labor

With the growth of large cities, things changed. Many people still worked on farms though. There were all sorts of jobs and activities. There were many different numbers of jobs a person could do when they got older such as: priest, scribe, merchant, craftsman, soldier, civil servant, or laborer. There weren't as many jobs as today though of course.

Social Classes

In Sumer there was a class system. Below the king, society was divided into classes. The rich: land owners, and government workers. Below the upper class was a small middle class made up of craftsman, merchants, and civil servants. They could make a decent living and could work hard to try and move up in class. The lowest class was farmers and laborers. These people lived a hard life.

Writing

Sumerians developed the first form of writing. As Sumerian towns grew into cities, the people needed a way to keep track of business transactions, ownership rights, and government records. Near 3300 BC the Sumerians began to use picture symbols marked into clay tablets. This was called cuneiform.

Art and Architecture

Artisans played a big role in culture of the mesipatamian people.They made everyday useful items like dishes, pots, clothing, baskets, boats, and weapons. They also created works of art to glorify the gods.

Public Works

They had built irrigation systems and canals. That let them get the water so they could water crops to get food, and get drinking water. Without this system the mesapatamians would nor have been able to. They would die of lack of food or die of lack of water.